Related Content

Dan Henderson insisted he wasn’t overly concerned about winning another championship heading into his Strikeforce title fight against Rafel “Feijao” Cavalcante on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.

The 40-year-old Henderson said he simply wanted to win and while grabbing a title would be great, it wasn’t his focus. That all changed when Strikeforce officials strapped the light heavyweight championship belt on Henderson after his third-round knockout of Feijao.

“Everyone was talking about the belt and I didn’t really give it much thought until now,” Henderson said in the cage afterward. “It’s definitely going to be an honor to have that Strikeforce belt.”

It’s the fifth major title of Henderson’s career. He earlier held belts in two different PRIDE weight classes and won separate tournaments in both the UFC and PRIDE.

Henderson caught Feijao with an overhand right and sent him crashing to the mat at 0:50 of the third round.

“I wanted to be real patient in this fight,” Henderson said. “Obviously, I would have liked to have knocked him out in the first minute, but I felt he’s a tough guy and real powerful.”

Feijao sent Henderson to the ground early in the first round with a powerful straight right.

“He caught me with a good dinger,” Henderson said.

Henderson recovered and took down Feijao to control the rest of the first round. He built on that momentum in the second round and seemed to take control in the clench and with another late takedown.

Still, the fight was nearly dead even before Henderson ended it. Henderson now faces the challenge of defending the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt, which none of the previous five holders accomplished.

“Hopefully I can break the curse next time,” Henderson said.

Below are the results from the Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson main card.

Women’s Welterweight Championship: Marloes Coenen defeated Liz Carmouche via submission at 1:29 of the fourth round. Carmouche was way ahead in the fight, out-striking the champion 221-48, before Coenen manuevered her way for a body triangle.

Conor McGregor became more than UFC featherweight champion with his 13-second knockout victory over Jose Aldo. He became the UFC. McGregor transcended into a level above any other fighter by living up to every promise about what he’d do to the only previous 145-pound champion in UFC history. And he set a slew of records doing it, including creating a live gate of $10.1 million at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta later said McGregor would become the first man to make more than $100 million in the octagon. The new era didn’t stop with McGregor. Luke Rockhold unseated previously undefeated Chris Weidman in the main event to become the seventh middleweight champion in UFC history.